An AED is a medical device for applying an electric shock (defibrillation) to a subject in ventricular fibrillation to bring the heart of the subject back to a normal condition. The AED has a main device configured to generate such an electric shock, and electrode pads to be attached to a human body. The electrode pads can also be used for defibrillators used in hospitals and the like.
Because the AED is required to be used quickly, various measures are taken to allow its quick use. For example, the AED is stored in a storage case in a state in which the main device and the electrode pads are connected to each other in advance (pre-connection). In order to implement the pre-connection, an electrode package is provided. The electrode package includes a packaging cover and connector-equipped lead wires extending outside from the packaging cover. That is, one ends of the lead wires are connected to the electrode pads, and parts of the lead wires and the electrode pads are housed and stored inside the sealed packaging cover. The other parts of the lead wires extend outside from the inside of the packaging cover.
A sealing apparatus, such as an impulse sealer, is used to seal up the lead wires and the electrode pads inside the packaging cover. The sealing apparatus seals an opening portion of the packaging cover in a state in which the electrode pads and the parts of the lead wires are housed inside the packaging cover. In this manner, it is possible to produce the electrode package in which the other parts of the lead wires extend outside from the inside of the packaging cover.
There are some related art for such an electrode package in which parts of lead wires and electrode pads are housed inside a packaging cover. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,579,919A discloses a package in which electrode pads are housed in a packaging cover. U.S. Pat. No. 5,402,884A discloses a system for packaging electrode pads used for defibrillation. U.S. Pat. No. 6,048,640A discloses an electrode package in which a packaging cover is pressed and heated to be sealed, and a method for manufacturing the electrode package.
Related art electrode packages are manufactured such that an opening portion of a packaging cover is sealed in a state in which parts of lead wires extend outside the packaging cover. To perform the sealing, the sealing apparatus presses and heats the packaging cover (film) and then cools it to seal the packaging cover. Generally, there is a slight variation in thickness among the lead wires. Therefore, the thickness (seal diameter) of a seal is made slightly narrower than the diameter of each of the lead wires. A thick diameter of lead wire may cause a coating of the lead wire that has been pressed and heated to be melted to partially protrude from the packaging cover, thereby giving a feeling of insecurity to a user (or may cause the user to misunderstand that it is defective). FIG. 12 is a view illustrating such melted parts. In FIG. 12, an enlarged view of a sealed section for the lead wires is illustrated. As shown in FIG. 12, the melted parts of the cables protrude from the packaging cover. These melted parts protruding from the packaging cover gives a negative feeling to the user.